In the Field

State

Project Description

Activity

Contact

Florida

Implementation Assistance Program – The Florida Department of Transportation is supporting bridge rehabilitation by the use of technologies that can detect and quantify concrete defects for plan production. The technology will become a part of routine bridge inspections and eventually increase efficiencies in bridge inspections and problem detection.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Indiana Department of Transportation is expanding its use of NDT tools from project level planning to network level planning as well as the integration of the data into Network Based Asset management tools.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Iowa Department of Transportation has identified impact echo as one of the most promising technologies for bridge deck evaluation. They will purchase an impact echo system for more extensive evaluation and use on additional bridge decks.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Louisiana Department of Transportation plans to use NDT methods as part of routine inspections. This will be accomplished through technical support, training, and usage of the technology so that in-house personnel may interpret data received by vendors.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Missouri Department of Transportation is utilizing a Wenner probe to test bridge decks and is interested in learning the scope and limitations of this tool and whether contract based bridge maintenance is a cost effective tool.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Oregon Department of Transportation is evaluating two groups of bridge decks for either delamination or deterioration due to corrosion using various NDT technologies. The results will be evaluated by a subject matter expert.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will assess and utilize different NDT technologies on three bridges of different lengths and structures to ascertain what technology should be used for a given condition.

Implementation Assistance Program – The Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research will apply NDT technology for assessment and rehabilitation of a series of six bridges along a heavily traveled Interstate corridor. If this pilot is successful, use of the technology could be expanded to conduct evaluation and prioritize bridges along other interstate and primary corridors.

Challenge

The number of concrete bridge decks in poor structural condition is one of the biggest
problems affecting bridges in the United States. Evaluating bridge deck conditions
becomes increasingly critical as highway agencies work to optimize the effective
timing, scope, and approaches for preventive maintenance, repair, and replacement.

Normal chain dragging, hammer sounding, and visual methods of identifying concrete
bridge deck deficiencies do not accurately and safely provide the needed information
to adequately maintain concrete bridge decks. Nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques
have the potential to quickly and reliably provide the needed information about
under-the-surface conditions of bridge decks, but independent evaluations are needed
to determine their best use and to validate their effectiveness under a variety
of conditions.

Solution

The web-based, open-source NDToolbox helps identify and characterize testing technologies
that are available to locate the primary deficiencies in concrete bridge decks.
With the toolbox, users can explore different NDT technologies and examine their
use in detecting deterioration for conditions relevant to the project. The NDToolbox
describes the technology and the physical principle behind it, applications, performance,
limitations, equipment, test procedures and protocols, and sample results. It also
provides recommendations regarding the best technologies for a particular deterioration
detection application.

The accompanying report identifies the four most common types of deterioration affecting
concrete bridge decks, and the corresponding NDT techniques that are best suited
to locating and identifying the deterioration. Based on their overall value in detecting
and characterizing deterioration in concrete decks, the top technologies were ground-penetrating
radar, impact echo, and ultrasonic surface waves. The report and web tool provide
clear information about the advantages and limitations of each technology. However,
the ultimate decision about which equipment to acquire and which technology to use
is dependent on the type of deterioration that is of highest concern to the agency,
and whether the evaluation is being done for network-level condition monitoring
or for project-level maintenance or rehabilitation.

Benefits

Comprehensive and accurate assessments of concrete bridge decks can reduce the frequency
of detailed regular and follow-up inspections. This can reduce the number of congestion-related
traffic interruptions, which, in turn, can provide shorter durations and frequencies
of work zones during testing operations. In addition, a number of NDT technologies
can generate data at production rates that are comparable to the current practice
of chain dragging and hammer sounding. The cost of these techniques is also approaching
traditional testing values.

Save Lives

Minimizes the likelihood of bridge failures from unrecognized bridge deck deterioration. Creates safer conditions for workers because of shorter exposure in work zones.